My name is Walt Alexander. I have the joy of serving as the Lead Pastor Trinity Grace Church in Athens, TN and have recently begun serving as the Sovereign Grace Leadership Team as the Director of Leadership Development.
My wife Kim and I have been married for 19 years and have three children, Rev (15), Wren (12), and Knox (10). Below is a picture of our family in Yosemite National Park last summer.
A Long, Strange Trip (of Pursuing Character)
The Grateful Dead’s 1970 hit “Truckin’” talks about “a long, strange trip.” Though my path to becoming a pastor was not drug-induced, it was a bit of a long, strange trip.
I was raised in a Christian home but sadly rebelled against my parents and what I had been taught. I was suddenly converted at the age of 21 while a student at the University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville. In God’s kind providence, just a few months later, I was introduced to Cornerstone Church of Knoxville.
I quickly desired to use my life to serve others, but my desires were more than a bit mixed. I loved theology but could be too dogmatic. I pursued holiness but was often self-righteous (one of my uncles used to call me “the right reverend”). I desired to worship God but was arrogant in the contribution I felt I could make with my guitar and vocal.
But God was gracious to draw me to Cornerstone Church. Through its faithful ministry, I learned so much about the importance of character, the pursuit of humility, the purpose of serving others, and more. John Calvin said the church is a gymnasium for godliness—that’s what Cornerstone Church was for me.
In 2004, I graduated college and set off for Erskine Seminary in Due West, SC. With the counsel of my parents and pastors, I planned to return to my former denomination to pursue a Masters of Divinity. I began in earnest and enjoyed my classes. But, after one year and 30 credits down, I quit. I missed Cornerstone Church too much!
I decided to return to Knoxville to be a member of Cornerstone Church, regardless of whether or not it included a future in pastoral ministry. In God’s kindness, I was given the opportunity to serve as an intern with Volunteers for Christ on the campus of UT.
After three years of serving on the campus—and marrying my wife Kim halfway through!—I was asked to attend the Pastors College in 2008 and have been serving as a pastor within Sovereign Grace ever since. I served at Cornerstone until 2018 and have been serving as one of the pastors of Trinity Grace since then.
It was a bit of a long, strange trip—yet I can see the invisible hand of God’s providence guiding throughout. And there’s no place I’d rather be.
The Necessity of Character
Perhaps it goes without saying that the call to pastoral ministry is a call to godly character. But in my path to becoming a pastor, I had to learn it.
Soon after being converted, I remember saying to a pastor friend, “I wish I could get started in ministry right now!” He responded, “What you need is character and that takes time.” That pastor’s timely encouragement re-oriented the next several years for me.
The preeminent requirement of pastors is godly character. The lists of requirements in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 all pertain to character, except the ability to teach and the requirement that the pastor not be a recent convert.
1 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. 1 Timothy 3:1–7 (Also: Titus 1:6-9)
But the necessity of godly character is emphasized throughout the pastoral epistles (1-2 Timothy and Titus) as well. Godliness is a dominant theme in the pastoral epistles. “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Tim. 1:5). It is “holding faith and a good conscience” (1:19). It is what the whole church needs to pursue: “a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (2:2). A church where men stop quarreling and raise holy hands in prayer to God (2:8) and women profess godliness through good works (2:10). A church where all pursue “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness” (6:11).
In this biblical context, the pastor is commanded to pursue godly character. The necessity of godly character is therefore not a box to check or a prerequisite to be completed for aspiring pastors. The necessity of godly character is because the whole church is to pursue godliness and needs godly examples to follow. So, in a verse widely misapplied at youth meetings and graduation parties, pastors are commanded: “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (4:12).
Everyone learns most deeply by watching. Children learn by watching parents, students learn by watching teachers, apprentices learn by watching masters, and one way churches learn is by watching their pastors. No amount of reading can replace what is learned by watching. So the pastor is to be an example to be watched and followed.
Christ left an example for us. Christ called pastors to be an example for others. And, therefore, before a pastor is anything else, he is to be an example. Not a perfect example but a genuine example of a man governed by the Word and the Spirit, sober-minded and self-controlled.
The Relevance of Character and Ordinary Pastors
For many who aspire to pastoral ministry, it cannot come soon enough. We want to get started loving, serving, leading, and caring now! In the meantime, pursuing godly character is always relevant.
But pursuing godly character is always relevant for every pastor.
One precious means of pursuing godly character is the example of older godly pastors.
In his final letter to Timothy, Paul urged Timothy to remember his example. “You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings” (2 Tim. 4:10-11). In a similar way, as we approach fifty years as a family of churches, Sovereign Grace is filled with godly examples for younger pastors and aspiring pastors to watch and follow.
In The Ordinary Pastor Podcast, I hope to provide you with a glimpse behind the scenes into the life and ministry of pastors throughout Sovereign Grace. I want it to be a bit like the old VH1 show Behind the Music. Sovereign Grace pastors are some of my heroes—and so much of what makes their pastoral ministry faithful and fruitful is because of what happens behind the scenes!
In The Ordinary Pastor Substack, I hope to provide articles, quotes, recommended resources that will serve us in pursuing godly character and pastoral ministry.
Thank you for listening and reading.